The release of iinet Bonded DSL is a great innovation for businesses looking for greater download and upload speeds. Bonded DSL could also be used at a home, but there is the requirement for two PSTN phone lines, which would require most homes to connect a second additional line.

What Is Bonded DSL?

Bonded DSL from iinet occurs at the phone exchange when two adjacent ports can be used to create one single connection – in theory at double the speed of just a standalone connection. So instead of a theoretical maximum download speed of 24 Mbps, the theoretical maximum becomes 48Mbps! The upload speed also has the potential to double.

Like with all broadband services there are no guarantees of exactly what speed you’ll get – because of external factors like line quality and user equipment – but there’s a good chance that Bonded DSL will help you download a lot quicker! There are some actual examples on the iinet website of customers using Bonded DSL and their download speeds. The distance from the exchange is listed for each example customer, which is a useful reference.

Pricing

The cost is $99 per month on top of the current iinet Business ADSL2+ or iinet Business Naked DSL plan that you have. For example if you are on the iinet Business 2 ADSL2+ plan you pay $79.90 per month for 50GB if you bundle your landline with iinet and 40GB if you don’t. The additional $99 per month will get you the Bonded DSL connection (provided all the qualification checks are met) and you retain your current download allowance.

Some of the qualification checks are that:

1. You can get iinet ADSL2+ in your area
2. There are ports available at the exchange
3. You need to have 2 ports next to each other for Bonded DSL – this will be checked
4. You need to have two PSTN phone lines

If you’d like to know more about Bonded DSL or sign up for it – call iinet on 1300 300 835. That is an iinet business priority line, if you’re asked for a partner code just quote ours - h zero 3 2 and business customers can use that phone number.

Here is an iinet ad explaining a little more about Bonded DSL. Thanks Finn. (Finn even has his own Facebook page)

iinet has released a new rental plan for its BoB modem for Naked DSL. In case you haven’t heard about BoB, it is an ADSL2+, Wireless and VoIP enabled Belkin modem especially branded for iinet. BoB is super easy to set up which is one of its most attractive features. This article is about the pros and cons of the rental plan, so for more details on the BoB modem itself visit www.iinet.com.au or read our iinet BoB Review.

Cost of iinet BoB Rental

The rental is $9.95 per month on top of your monthly broadband plan. This isn’t a rent-to-own situation so as long as you are renting the modem you will have to pay the monthly fee.

See all the BoB pricing here.

Over a 24 month period this works out to $238.80. If you wanted to buy the iinet BoB modem with no contract then it is $369. If you buy BoB upfront on a 24 month plan the discounted price is $269. These prices include the modem and a phone handset. So after 24 months you’d be slightly ahead with the rental option except for the fact that you don’t own a modem. So if you want to keep Naked DSL (or ADSL2+) then you’re going to have to buy a new modem or keep renting BoB at $9.95 per month.

Pros of iinet BoB Rental

There are two key advantages of renting BoB.

1) You don’t need to pay upfront for a modem. BoB isn’t the cheapest modem on the market and so spending $269 to $369 upfront to get BoB is a big deal. Especially when the Naked DSL connection fee is $79.95 to $150 as well. Naked DSL will save you money – especially if you make a lot of home phone calls and get them for free with iinet VoIP. But it’s still a decent investment if you’re buying a modem and paying a set up fee.

If you want to get iinet Naked DSL and get the simplicity and features that BoB provides, and don’t want to pay upfront, then the rental could be a great option for you.

2) If you join iinet on a 24 month plan with the BoB rental, you also get the $79.95 set up fee waived! So you can get started with iinet Naked DSL with no set up fee and no upfront payment for a modem. It’s a pretty compelling proposition if you don’t like paying upfront for things.

Cons of iinet BoB Rental

The big downside to renting your BoB unit is that you never own the modem. If you want to own the modem that is! If you’re the type of person who will use a modem for 3 or 4 years until it dies on you, then renting BoB is going to cost you more in the long run ($477.60 over 4 years).

So if you decide to stop renting BoB after a couple of years, that’s fine. iinet supplies you with a postal bag to send it back. But you’ll then need to buy your own BoB modem or go and buy another brand of ADSL2+ modem (with VoIP and Wireless if you want similar features to BoB).

What Should You Do – Buy or Rent?

It really comes down to personal preference and available cash flow. Some people prefer buying – they buy their house, they buy their appliances and buy their cars. You don’t have to buy a BoB modem to connect to iinet Naked DSL, so there are cheaper options available. And some people prefer to rent and that’s equally fine and comes with its own benefits. Do what suits your preference and your financial situation (we are not certified financial advisers so please go and get some expert advice if you want to know if buying or renting suits your situation better!)

If you don’t want to pay upfront fees to join Naked DSL, but know that it will save you money if you sign up, then the rental option with no set up fee is very attractive to get you started quickly and easily.

Visit www.iinet.com.au for more information BoB rental, see the iinet Naked DSL plans or sign up with iinet

iinet has released new Naked DSL plans today, with increased data allowances across the board. As well as boosting the data quota, iinet has also changed the peak and off peak times, so before jumping across to the new plans, just make sure they are going to work out better for you. And just like before both uploads and downloads are counted. Read on for more details of the new plans….

New Naked DSL Plans from iinet

Naked Home 1 at $49.95 per month has been boosted from 2GB (peak) + 2GB (off peak) to 5GB + 5GB of data. This is a significant increase and now better aligns iinet with some of the other premium Naked DSL providers. This plan is still only available on “No Contract” with a $195 set up fee.

Naked Home 2 received a comparatively modest increase moving up from 8GB + 8GB to 10GB + 10GB. But for a standard internet user this amount of data is ample at a very good price point of $59.95. Especially considering unlimited free local and national VoIP calls and there is the option of a 24 month contract with discounted set up fee on this plan.

Naked Home 3 at $69.95 received a significant data allowance increase from 15GB + 20GB to 30GB + 30GB. This plan will definitely become more popular. Naked Home 4 at $79.95 is also a much improved plan, now delivering 50GB + 50GB in data and increase of 66% over the previous allowance.

Naked Home 5 at $89.95 per month has had an extra 20GB added to its peak usage allowance and is now 60GB + 60GB. Naked Home 6 is the highest plan at $119.95 per month and now includes 75GB + 75GB of data per month.

New Off Peak Periods

All of the above plans  - Naked Home 1, 2, 3 & 4 – have a new “off peak” usage period of between 2am and 8am daily. The old allowance use to run 4 hours longer until 12 midday. So for most people this won’t make a lot of difference except perhaps on weekends. So whilst it’s a slight drawback, the benefit of the increased data allowances will outweigh the changes to the off peak period.

The off peak period on Naked Home 5 & 6 is between 1am and 9am. For the nocturnal creatures amongst us, brining it forward to 1am will be a good advantage. Overall 2 hours of off peak time have been lost, but for the vast majority the extra data is well worth it.  These two top end plans are also now shaped to 128/128k – twice the previous download speed if the data quota is exceeded.

All the other major iinet Naked DSL benefits remain the same – for example:

• Free iiTalk VoIP with unlimited local and national calls to landlines.
• The iinet Fair Contract Guarantee
• Fantastic customer service
• iinet BoB Modem for super easy set up
• Access to the iinet Freezone

Click Here to Sign Up For iinet Naked DSL >>

What is iinet BoB? It’s all over the front of the iinet website currently in case you missed it.

At first glance, BoB looks like a 4 port wireless modem with a phone handset to use with Naked DSL VoIP. But when you look a little deeper it’s far more than that. BoB is a fantastic All in One device which is super easy to set up and includes a stack of great features. Here are five fantastic BoB features:

#1 - BoB is incredibly easy to set up. You just plug it in and it automatically configures itself with your iinet broadband account and settings. All you need to do is plug the power cord into the wall and the phone cable into the wall socket. BoB works just fine on Apple Mac too.

#2 - BoB has 4 ethernet ports and has excellent wireless range, in fact up to twice the range of standard 802.11g wireless modems and also faster wireless data transmissions at 300Mbps.

#3 - BoB has two high speed USB ports. One of the ports is labelled “storage/3G” and has several impressive features. Firstly you can plug in a USB hard drive or flash drive into BoB and all files will be shared throughout your wireless network. Secondly you can plug in a 3G USB modem (dongle) so you can share your wireless broadband connection between multiple devices if you need to. There will be a future firmware upgrade to enable this technology.

#4 - The second USB port is labelled “charge” and you can charge your mobile phones, portable music players or anything that charges through a USB cable.

#5 - BoB looks great! This might not be the most important feature, but it’s a good one nonetheless. Most wireless modems which are used for Naked DSL VoIP have an antenna sticking out the top of them. The phone handsets don’t match the modem colour and overall it can be a pretty ugly mess.  BoB on the other hand has a great, slick design with no external antenna and the handset matches just beautifully.

Visit the iinet Website >>

iinet Plans for BoB

BoB is made especially for Naked DSL – which is fast ADSL2+ broadband without having to pay line rental every month! iinet Naked DSL includes a free VoIP account with unlimited calls to landlines in Australia. With iinet you can also transfer your Telstra landline phone number to VoIP.

BoB is a VoIP modem and integrates perfectly with iinet VoIP so you can make phone calls with a BoB handset or your own handset. The iinet Naked DSL plans start at $49.95 per month.

See the iinet Naked DSL Plans >>

You don’t have to get a BoB modem to get iinet’s Naked DSL service. Other ADSL2+ VoIP modem brands like Billion, Open Networks, Netgear and Netcomm will work fine with iinet. But they will require some configuration at the time of set up. On the other hand BoB comes pre-configured and is extremely easy to set up.

If for some reason you don’t want to go Naked, you can use BoB with ADSL2+ if you like and retain your landline phone service.

See the iinet ADSL2+ Plans >>

Other Features

If you already have your own phone handsets then they will likely be compatible with BoB. If you buy a handset with BoB, then it comes with the charging unit inbuilt.

You also don’t have to use BoB with VoIP. You can use your standard PSTN phone line if you would like. But if you use iinet ADSL2+ with VoIP, then BoB will make calls by default using VoIP and will revert to PSTN if your internet connection drops out.

If you get iinet Naked DSL, which comes with a free VoIP account and unlimited local and national calls, BoB will work just fine as your all in one modem, wireless router and VoIP handset base.

The iinet BoB modem is also NOT locked to iinet, so you can easily change the settings and use it with another ISP if you want to.

Click Here For More Details on the iinet Website>>

BoB Pricing

So how much does BoB cost? BoB is made by Belkin, the high quality modem and router supplier, so it’s not budget equipment. BoB is a highly featured device that will offer you far more than a standard 4 port wireless router. If you want a handset, then it’s $269 on a 24 month plan. Without a handset it’s $209. Additional handsets are $69 each.

If you are after the cheapest modem possible, then BoB isn’t for you. Simply sign up with iinet and select the BYO modem option and get a modem from elsewhere. But if you are after a well-featured, smart looking modem that is extremely easy to set up, then BoB is a great choice.

Click here for all BoB pricing options>>

iinet Fair Contract Guarantee

We like the iinet Fair Contract Guarantee, which makes the 24 month plan a really fair deal. If you need to leave your contract before 24 months, you aren’t unfairly penalised. There are no early termination fees – you simply pay back the bonuses you received at sign up.

Visit the iinet Website >>

UPDATE: 8th Jan 2010

Today Naked DSL and ADSL2+ have been released in Brooklyn, VIC by TPG!

Click here to see TPG Naked DSL plans

Click here to see TPG ADSL2+ plans

You do need a connected landline to apply for Naked DSL (it is disconnected once your Naked DSL is connected). If you don’t have a landline please contact us and we can advise you on the cheapest way of getting a landline connected.

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Great news for those living in the Brooklyn exchange in Victoria – Naked DSL and ADSL2+ from iinet and TPG are coming soon! The Brooklyn exchange also includes parts of the suburbs of Kingsville, Yarraville, Tottenham and Altona North. If you are unsure of which exchange you are connected to, please use the Naked DSL checker on the home page.

TPG is expecting to launch Naked DSL and ADSL2+ at the Brooklyn exchange in December 2009. iinet doesn’t have a date scheduled for launching services at this exchange.

If you register your details below, we’ll let you know as soon as TPG and iinet Naked DSL and ADSL2+ are available in the Brooklyn exchange.

Both iinet and TPG offer Naked DSL from $49.95. These ISPs offer different features and benefits, so once services are available we can offer advice if you need help in choosing the best plan for you.

Naked DSL in Ivanhoe looks set to become a reality in December 2009! iinet and Internode are both currently building DSLAMs in the Ivanhoe exchange, which will enable the first non-Telstra based DSL services in the area. Bring on cheaper prices and faster broadband speeds!

Once Naked DSL is made available, residents of Ivanhoe will be able to ditch their line rental and enjoy the benefits of Naked DSL. iinet currently has projected this to be ready within the first week of December.

iinet and Internode both offer Naked DSL from just $49.95 per month. This service includes a free VoIP account for making and receiving phone calls. And of course there are no more line rental payments! If you live in Ivanhoe and really want to maintain your line rental, then you can get ADSL2+ at far cheaper prices than what are currently available.

Internode doesn’t have a scheduled release date in Ivanhoe yet, but if you fill in your details below, we’ll notify you as soon as iinet and Internode are ready to go in Ivanhoe!

iinet has upgraded the status of quite a few exchanges today. The great news is that most of them now have available Naked DSL and ADSL2+ ports where they were previously full or unavailable. Here is the complete list of updates:

In order to confirm whether you are connected to any of these exchanges, please enter your phone number or address below. You will also get a list of Naked DSL providers and plans that are available at your exchange.

So you’ve heard of BoB? He’s pretty popular at the moment! iinet has given the boring old modem some personality and it’s generating a lot of interest. So what does BoB stand for?

BoB = Broadband in a Box

I’m not sure where the ‘o’ fits it, but a modem called BiaB or BiB doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. BoB seems like a good name for a modem

So while BoB might be a good name for a modem, is he actually a good modem? Read our full iinet BoB Review to see what we think!

If you’re interested in iinet BoB pricing, click here to see it on the iinet website.

TPG has just released more ports for both ADSL2+ and Naked DSL in the Lakemba exchange. Optus and all ISPs using the Optus DSLAM in Lakemba are still unavailable because of no available ports. This includes Optus, Netspace, Internode, Exetel, Dodo, MyNetFone and more.

The other Naked DSL and ADSL2+ provider in Lakemba is iinet.

If you want to retain your landline, then ADSL2+ will be the service for you. In most cases there is a fast transfer process available so that you experience very little down time in moving to your new ADSL2+ service with TPG or iinet.

If you want internet without a phone line, then Naked DSL is what you want. You will no longer have to pay $30 line rental every single month. Plus you get the fast download speeds of ADSL2+. There may be down time of a week or two when moving to Naked DSL, but over 100,000 Australians have now connected Naked DSL which indicates just how popular it is.

iinet and TPG are quite different internet providers. TPG will give far more download allowance than iinet, for example on the $59.95 Naked DSL plan TPG offers 25GB peak downloads plus 25GB offpeak downloads. For the same price iinet offers 8GB peak plus 8GB off peak and both downloads and uploads are counted.

But iinet offers significantly more generous off peak hours in which to use your data allowance, and there are some other great iinet Naked DSL features which TPG doesn’t current offer. For example iinet offers unlimited free calls to landlines with iinet VoIP – iiTalk. You can even keep your phone number when moving to iinet. iinet also offers a high level of 24/7 customer service. They can also install Naked DSL without you needing to have a landline connected.

You can click this link to see a summary of available Naked DSL plans in Lakemba.

Click Here to Sign Up with iinet >>

Click Here to Sign Up with TPG Naked DSL >>

Click Here to Sign Up with TPG ADSL2+ >>

One of our website visitors emailed today, letting us know that their iinet Naked DSL had been connected this morning. I quickly checked our past email correspondence and saw that it was exactly two weeks ago that this person had initially contacted us. 10 working days is a fast Naked DSL connection!

On the iinet website, they quote 10 to 20 working days for Naked DSL to be connected. It’s great to see that the customer who contacted us this morning was connected in the 10 day time frame. This was a customer who had no active phone line in his unit – but there was a line that had been connected there previously.

If you want to transfer your existing home phone number to iiTalk then you might experience a slightly longer connection period. You can read our complete iinet Naked DSL Review here.

Of course not every iinet Naked DSL connection will be done within 10 working days, but it is positive to see that it’s not just a theoretically possible connection target, but that it does happen in reality too! From recent feedback from customers we have seen more iinet Naked DSL connections happening closer to the 10 days than the 20 days.

If you would like to check if iinet Naked DSL is available in your area, please vist the iinet website.

If you would like to see all of your ISP and plan options, please check availability on our Naked DSL home page.